My package is supposed to be coming Wednesday ladies, if it gets here early enough you know what that means...Henna Thursday!

Nikki- I drink green tea too. I drink Arizona green tea with honey and ginseng. It's good. I didn't realize it was supposed to be anti aging. I just knew green tea was good for you all around. Like it's supposed to be good for weight management and what not.

Heather- The antioxidants in green tea attacks the free radicals that damage cells. And yes, (cold) water and green tea (supposedly) stimulates the metabolism and calorie burning process! Unfortunately, like most health fads, alot of the claims have yet to be proven scientifically. For instance, the guy who came on Oprah said that drinking 5+ cups of green tea a day results in 60 calories burned...and that people who drink green tea instead of coffee, are significantly thinner. If you think about it, people who drink coffee, load it up with cream, milk and sugar...while people who drink tea usually use only honey to sweeten. That right there saves the tea drinker lots of calories. Another confounding issue would be that the person who drinks green tea, may be more concerned and informed about health, and just as they drink tea for its health benefits, they also exercise more, eat a well rounded diet and lead a healthier lifestyle than the average coffee drinker... just a thought.

Some of green tea's claims, however, have been supported through empirical research projects. For a summary of the most recent studies check out this site and scroll down to the last bolded subtitle.

This is the kinda stuff I read about while at work Completely unwork related of course

Some people on hennaforhair.com mix their henna with green tea. And for the record, my favorite is Celestials Seasonings Green Tea Goji Berry Pom (20 tea bags) or Lipton's Green Tea Cranberry Pom (20 bags). Arizona and Lipton pre-bottled teas are full of high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients completely unrelated to green tea...and the green tea itself is usually an afterthought.

In the words of Huey from The Boondocks, 'That high fructose corn syrup'll kill ya.' It's so sad, cause its in everything. This is why I don't drink soda, juices or pre-bottled teas. But I digress...

And Spiral, yes there is a lot of bouncing going on. Henna makes me excited and gives me another reason to look forward to the weekend. I washed my henna out this morning, did a DT and now my hair is 90% dry and has even less shrinkage. My hair is shinier than ever before and the strands are ridiculously reinforced! I henna

ETA: My henna just arrived ! But it's 3:30. If I mix it up now, it might not be ready until 3 am. Hmmm. I might mix it up this evening and apply it tomorrow morning.

okay, i just looked at my green tea and saw the high fructose corn syrup! Oh no! You think I make the green tea and but it in the gallon pitchers like regular tea?

Originally Posted by HeatherNicole

Yep On my Celestial Seasonings box, there are directions for how to make a pitcher (brew 4-5 bags, pour into pitcher, add ice, etc.). Obviously, the commercial tea bags (Celestial Seasonings, Lipton, etc.) aren't your best bet either but they're closer to the real thing than bottled teas. The ideal situation would be to buy Whole Green Tea Leaves (and simply pour the water onto them), use gunpowder green tea (pellets made from whole leaves), or organic green tea that is made from the whole leaf. When I drink the Celestial Seasonings, I'm still getting a good amount of antioxidants (100mg per serving) but its significantly crushed and not very fresh. Of the commerical brands Celestial Seasonings ranks 1st in the amount of antioxidants per serving and Lipton second.

Hey ladies! Just wanted to chime in and say I have had great hair days ever since I discovered henna so I can see why there is alot of bouncing going on up in here ...

Heathernicole- Your hair looks beautiful and I can imagine just how more beautiful it is in person bc I don't think the pictures do my hennaed hair any justice either...I look at the pics and I'm like mmmm it doesn't look like that in the mirror but anyway looking good girl!

Nikki-Thanks for suggesting the Body Envy gel...I don't know what it is but I just like it and I layer it over PM the conditioner...perfect combo. When I want less of a defined look I just use the PM leave in...I still want to try Sheamoisture leave in and BB CFP

Frizzcurls- Thank you so much I think you and your hair are so pretty. And lol b/c I say the exact same thing. I'll be standing in the mirror and then I'll look at the picture I just took and say, "It doesn't really look like this...does it?"

Update on 6th henna:
My hair is considerably looser and I'm hoping that it'll bounce back today after a mild shampooing session. I rinsed the henna (after leaving it on for 12+ hours), conditioned, DTed and styled. I used the winning team: BB CFP, Curls WC and HE BE gel and my hair was hanging below my shoulders until it was 85% dry...at 100% dry it was still brushing my shoulders (pre-henna it would shrink to my ears and I'd use my claw-clip method to stretch it down to my chin). It was then that I realized that although I crave length, I crave volume more, and I like the look of my bouncy, chin length bob. I put it in a pony tail (the longest one I've ever experienced) and tried to forget about it. It just seemed blah to me. It'd be great hair to do a twist-out on, I supposed. It may result in the 'Joan' effect from Girlfriends.

On the upside, my hair is stronger, shinier and heavier than ever before. It's absolutely gorgeous and I love how healthy it feels and looks.

This morning, when I scratched my scalp, I can still feel a little residue, so I'm hoping the less shrinkage I'm experiencing is due to the fact that my lazy butt didn't get all of the henna out. So, this evening when I style for Monday, I will use even less product to avoid weighing my hair down any further (since the henna seems to be handling that ) and maybe turn to my BB HNS instead of Curls WC, since the BB makes my hair shrink more. We shall see

Maybe this is a good thing (if my hair does indeed spring back up) and my weighed down henna'ed hair will use up less of these expensive a$$ products I've found it necessary to buy. While I don't like the stretched out look, my fiance sure is having fun, lol . He's been wanting me to straighten it, but this is as close as he's gonna get to that, for quite some time. He loves my natural hair, but he likes the sleek straight look too. I guess for now, this is a good compromise.

Nik, maybe you should stop doing your henna once a week. I've heard the loosening only last for several days. Every 2 weeks might be better. And I want to see this Tracee Ellis Ross hair so take some pictures. lol.

LOL, i wish. I think it would be similar to her wavy poof if I did a twist-out...not just naturally (or magically) after a co-wash and style. It's just all around looser...like it would be if I slightly blew it out or braided it up while wet and released it later. My curls are still pretty consistent and haven't changed shape or anything...they just don't shrink as much. Its hard to describe, or to understand. My curls aren't looser, but they shrink less? I've also noticed considerably less frizz.

Also, I've read both...that the straightening effects are a result of cumulative uses of henna and thus you can't regain loss curl, and that the straightening effects wear off after a few washes. When I emailed Catherine, she said that the henna/indigo treatments permanently loosened her daughter's hair (the black/indigo'ed hair model on the website).

In my case, I co-wash everyday, so theoretically, by Wednesday, my hair should be returning to normal, but the truth is, my hair doesn't shrink up to my ears anymore. I don't mind that...but I don't want it to look limp either. I like my consistent curl pattern and I don't want to jeopardize that, but I also like this healthy, split free, red hair too. The more you henna the more red you deposit and I'm loving this color! If my hair doesn't bounce back today, I'll consider cutting back to every other week. But if it bounces back tonight (and this was just the result of leftover henna residue), I'll be henna'ing again, lol.

That's cool Nik, I think I follow your description. Apparently amla is supposed to help with the return of curl too I read on hennaforhair. Maybe because the tannin and indigo are binding together it makes the hair heavier, thus pulling it out more than just the henna alone? Dunno, sounds like a logical explanation to me lol.

TCoS (Temporary change of subject (I don't like to say guano lol)): I posted 3 new pics in my "hair through the years" album It was my results with my big 3 combo. Gio DL, HE SMU, Rake and Smooth. I was able to duplicate, Nikki. lol.

Isn't it times like these when you wonder where this routine was 2 years ago. If someone would have said, "Hey Nikki (or Heather, lol), I know you're broke, and don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money on hair products...but, please try BB...please try Curls...please try Giovani. And step the hell away from that diffuser, that Sebastian Potion 9 (remember that, lol!) and that heavy a$$ Fantasia IC gel." For someone that is protein sensitive, Sebastian is NOT the way to go. Yes, I had great definition (or what I thought was great) but my hair was crunchy as ramen noodles. Not a good look. My routine is fairly simple, not ridiculously expensive and gives consistently awesome results. What more could you ask for?!

I co-washed and styled a minute ago. It was pretty funny, lol. I was standing in the mirror, doing my regular routine all the while praying that my hair would shrink! I've never wanted the shrinkage this much The grass is always greener...

I can say that right now, its sitting on my shoulders, compared to hanging just below them like yesterday and after applying the BB HNS in a raking motion, I watched my curls spring back, instead of just hanging there limp. Right now, it looks like it did after henna #5 (my most recent pics). We'll see what it looks like dry and I'll post pics after work tomorrow.

ttyl

ETA: My mom (and g-pa) grayed prematurely..i think she was 80% gray at 25. Obviously, I'm not graying to that extent, but I do have a few rogue hairs here and there. When I was doing my hair tonight, I noticed a flaming red hair at my hair line and one on the side of my head. I mean RED They're kinda short, and it confused me because the henna doesn't have this effect on my black hairs. So, I'm guessing these were hairs that came in gray and the henna attacked them! This is pretty cool because it means that even when I do start graying, I'll have awesome red highlights. I never will commerically dye my hair again and henna will allow me to keep my hair healthy and still be a diva

Finally, I joined the club. I waited as long as I could for the sake of the baby. After checking out every source of information, I felt confident that henna would not have any adverse affect on my baby. So, I got on board.

That said, I applied my first henna on friday. I let it sit in my hair for three hours. The smell was much too strong for me to leave it any longer. Rinsing it out was not as hard as I anticipated, so I was satisfied with that. Results: I was very pleased. As many of you have experienced, the softness post henna was great. My hair was smooth and toucheable. I took pictures immediately after, even before I conditioned and applied products. I am pleased with the shine and softness of my hair, not to mention the red fiery color I now have. I want to try it again this weekend and this time allow the henna to soak longer and try to keep it in longer. That's it for now. I posted pics, so enjoy.

ITA with the gren tea.. Being from Central America/ West Indies we believe tea cures all You feeling sick, drink some tea, you have a stomach ache, drink tea, your feet hurt drink tea lol I know.. I know.. I'm exaggerating. But I'm really not lol. I love tea I can drink it all day.

Also, I'm not henna-ing as much but I am Cassia-ing like every 4 days & I'm in Is that to much? No don't tell me I don't wanna know..

Finally, I joined the club. I waited as long as I could for the sake of the baby. After checking out every source of information, I felt confident that henna would not have any adverse affect on my baby. So, I got on board.

That said, I applied my first henna on friday. I let it sit in my hair for three hours. The smell was much too strong for me to leave it any longer. Rinsing it out was not as hard as I anticipated, so I was satisfied with that. Results: I was very pleased. As many of you have experienced, the softness post henna was great. My hair was smooth and toucheable. I took pictures immediately after, even before I conditioned and applied products. I am pleased with the shine and softness of my hair, not to mention the red fiery color I now have. I want to try it again this weekend and this time allow the henna to soak longer and try to keep it in longer. That's it for now. I posted pics, so enjoy.

Originally Posted by Fleurzty

WOW I love that color girl!!! Your hair has always been amazing but henna has kicked it up a notch

ITA with the gren tea.. Being from Central America/ West Indies we believe tea cures all You feeling sick, drink some tea, you have a stomach ache, drink tea, your feet hurt drink tea lol I know.. I know.. I'm exaggerating. But I'm really not lol. I love tea I can drink it all day.

Also, I'm not henna-ing as much but I am Cassia-ing like every 4 days & I'm in Is that to much? No don't tell me I don't wanna know..

Originally Posted by curli

You're right. It's a placebo effect for me because I use it in the morning to 'wake me up' but I drink the same tea at night to soothe me and put me to bed, lol. It helps my sore throat and helps with tension and stress too.

And in the words of Catherine, 'you can henna/cassia as often as you like!'

ttyl

BTW, Im' on day two hair (out of laziness) and it looks freggin awesome!
I received 3 compliments before noon yesterday and my fiance told me I look like an Egyptian queen, lol. He said that he'd like for me to wear my hair curly for our wedding next year, which is crazy because he's been the main one howling for me to straighten it for the big day. Now that's the sweetest thing he has said all year Thanks Henna

ITA with the gren tea.. Being from Central America/ West Indies we believe tea cures all You feeling sick, drink some tea, you have a stomach ache, drink tea, your feet hurt drink tea lol I know.. I know.. I'm exaggerating. But I'm really not lol. I love tea I can drink it all day.

Also, I'm not henna-ing as much but I am Cassia-ing like every 4 days & I'm in Is that to much? No don't tell me I don't wanna know..

Originally Posted by curli

You're right. It's a placebo effect for me because I use it in the morning to 'wake me up' but I drink the same tea at night to soothe me and put me to bed, lol. It helps my sore throat and helps with tension and stress too.

And in the words of Catherine, 'you can henna/cassia as often as you like!'

ttyl

BTW, Im' on day two hair (out of laziness) and it looks freggin awesome!
I received 3 compliments before noon yesterday and my fiance told me I look like an Egyptian queen, lol. He said that he'd like for me to wear my hair curly for our wedding next year, which is crazy because he's been the main one howling for me to straighten it for the big day. Now that's the sweetest thing he has said all year Thanks Henna